Group Poem XV will be a poem written in honor of Pope Francis, the newly elected leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The poem will be in the form of an Italian sonnet, in deference to Rome. However, instead of the customary iambic pentameter (5 beats per line), we will use iambic heptameter (7 beats per line), being that the number 7 is more "ecclesiastically prophetic.” The poem will consist of 14 lines--8 lines rhyming abbaabba and 6 lines rhyming cdecde.

The title of our poem is “The Vote,” and should tell an imaginary tale of Francis’s election to the office of Pope. Each line must incorporate a word (in bold type) relating the Catholic faith in particular (e.g., cardinal) or to Christianity in general (e.g., cleric).

The Vote

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots

Last edited by saparris on Wed Mar 27, 2013 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

E'er I put my genius to this, I need explication. You said septameter defined as seven beats per line. Now I am both poetically and mathematically challenged, but I count 13 beats in your example. Did I miscount? Did you mean seven stressors, thus 14 accented beats? Or what do I miss. I got half a line in mind...

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots, While poperazzi mass outside laying down their bets.The Holy See is rife with speculation, deals and threatsAnd nepotism, murder, bribes, purchase,and stealth, as well placement by kings

(As Perry said, I'm not much for writing them. So I'llstop, Audie or Saparris: please clean up my contribution.)

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots, While poperazzi mass outside laying down their bets.The Holy See is rife with speculation, deals and threatsAnd nepotism, power, cash, and dark dogmatic plots

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots, While poperazzi mass outside laying down their bets.The Holy See is rife with speculation, deals and threatsAnd nepotism, power, cash, and dark dogmatic plotsWhile we, Christ’s blessed concubines, have unrepentant thoughts

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots, While poperazzi mass outside laying down their bets.The Holy See is rife with speculation, deals and threatsAnd nepotism, power, cash, and dark dogmatic plotsWhile we, Christ’s blessed concubines, have unrepentant thoughtsWatched by Matthew's march of antecedents from lunettes.

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots, While poperazzi mass outside laying down their bets.The Holy See is rife with speculation, deals and threatsAnd nepotism, power, cash, and dark dogmatic plotsWhile we, Christ’s blessed concubines, have unrepentant thoughtsWatched by Matthew's march of antecedents from lunettesBut, then, no frescoed saint can vex the first of man’s estates

p.s. Half rhymes are permissible

Important note: There was a typo in the directions. The rhyme scheme of the last six lines should be cdecde. I changed this in the directions as well.

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots, While poperazzi mass outside laying down their bets.The Holy See is rife with speculation, deals and threatsAnd nepotism, power, cash, and dark dogmatic plotsWhile we, Christ’s blessed concubines, have unrepentant thoughtsWatched by Matthew's march of antecedents from lunettesBut, then, no frescoed saint can vex the first of man’s estatesGod guides our choices, contrary to some unkind reports.

And now it comes to this: we agèd clerics casting lots, While poperazzi mass outside laying down their bets.The Holy See is rife with speculation, deals and threatsAnd nepotism, power, cash, and dark dogmatic plotsWhile we, Christ’s blessed concubines, have unrepentant thoughtsWatched by Matthew's march of antecedents from lunettesBut, then, no frescoed saint can vex the first of man’s estatesGod guides our choices, contrary to some unkind reports.We Mark the vision of the Grail, the ballot choice in sight